By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Palestinians who ‘mysteriously’ landed in South Africa on Thursday morning seem to have been ‘flushed out’ of Gaza.
A group of 153 Palestinians arrived at Johannesburg airport on a chartered Global Airways flight from Kenya without departure stamps, return tickets or details of accommodation.
The home affairs ministry allowed them to disembark on Thursday evening after the Gift of the Givers charity guaranteed to provide them with accommodation.
“It does seem like they were being flushed out,” Ramaphosa told journalists Friday.
“These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here,” he said, adding that South Africa would investigate “the details” but had admitted the group “out of compassion”.
Ramaphosa said South African intelligence agencies, the Department of Home Affairs, and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation were now assessing the situation.
A first plane carrying 176 Palestinians had previously landed in Johannesburg on October 28, with some of the passengers then departing for other countries, according to the founder of the Gift of the Givers, Imtiaz Sooliman.
The Palestinian embassy in South Africa said Thursday both groups’ travel “was arranged by an unregistered and misleading organisation that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected money from them, and facilitated their travel in an irregular and irresponsible manner”.
The episode has revived debate over South Africa’s approach to the war in Gaza. The country, which hosts the largest Jewish community in sub-Saharan Africa, has largely been supportive of the Palestinian cause and criticised Israel’s war with Hamas.
The government filed a case against Israel with the international court of justice in 2023, accusing it of genocide in the Palestinian territory. Civil society movements, inspired by South Africa’s anti-apartheid legacy, actively organise solidarity campaigns, boycotts, and aid efforts for Palestinians.
Leon Schreiber, the home affairs minister, said none of the travellers from Palestine had applied for asylum.
“Once satisfied that the absence of certain elements from their itinerary would not leave them destitute in South Africa in the absence of any asylum claims, the travellers were granted entry into South Africa on the standard 90-day visa exemption, subject to compliance with the standard conditions,” he said.